Crash Bandicoot: Memories
by eternal1990
Summary: Sometimes we want to live in bubbles. Naïve and unaware. But what happens when you have to remember? Remember everything that you wished you never knew.
1. Chapter 1

**And thus the story continues. eternal1990 has risen from coffin (not like those shitty twilight vampires I mean real hardcore ones) Anyway, here is the next mini story Memories. Again this is not going to be very long but it is going to be very important. Because it's going to lead right into the next story. But, until then sit back and enjoy the fic and my cheesy introduction (God I hate intros.)**

**For this chapter I recommend listening to Blue by A Perfect Circle**

**Crash Bandicoot and any related characters do not belong to me they are owned by who even knows at this point. Any OC's that are in this story are mine.**

**Enjoy**

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**Memories Prologue**

2 months later

Crash Bandicoot was walking down the street with Jan by his side.

The weather over the last 2 months had slowly lowered and the bandicoot now had to wear a coat.

Jan was silently trailing behind him as the two were walking home from school.

The red head still hadn't told Crash about the incident when she had taken the train ride home from the Hamptons. She could still hear the creature's exact words.

"Something is coming, Jane; something not even Crash will be able to stop."

But how could that make any sense? Crash was strong; he was able to take down Cortex, and now Cortex was dead and no longer a threat to the planet.

Only Jan had no memory of what happened during Crash's second adventure since she received a bad blow to the head by her deranged cyborg uncle, N. Gin. So she never knew Cortex had returned; she never knew that Cortex had escaped 3 times. And neither of them were even thinking about where he was, or what he would do next.

"Jan you there?" Crash asked.

Jan snapped out of her thoughts. "Yeah I'm here?"

"You've been acting rather jumpy for the last couple months. What's wrong? Does this have anything to do about what happened that Holiday weekend?"

"No, no it's not that. It's just... I'm not sure you would believe me if I told you."

"You can tell me."

"You promise not to think I'm crazy?" Jan begged.

"I promise."

"Well... When I got off the train, I felt this chill run down my spine. Then this voice demonic just popped into my head. I remember hearing it once before back on the islands. He said; something is coming, and not even you will be able to stop it."

Right after she finished, Crash saw a brief image. The image was of him running down a stone walled corridor; out of breath and scared. The bandicoot began to breathe rapidly.

"Crash!" Jan cried.

"No, no I'm okay... It's just something I saw. I was running down a corridor, but that's all there was."

"Crash you're..."

"I think that was a flashback; but that's a good thing, I need to let my memories, for better or for worse."

"Crash!" Jan whimpered.

Crash embraced the frightened girl.

"You have to let me do this. I know they might not be good memories, but from what you told me, I need to collect my memories to find out what's coming and I will stop it."

"Crash..."

"You need to trust me."

"But I don't know what it will do to you."

"That's something I need to except. I can't stay in this forgetful bubble forever." Crash frowned.

"Okay Crash; but I'll stay by your side no matter what happens."

"I know you will." Crash smiled, although deep within him he had this cold strange feeling wrap around him.

**That's it for the Prologue let me know what you think. Read and Review or PM.**


	2. Missing

**Sorry for the long delay, I had bad really bad writers block. But I managed to come up with something, so here it is. This chapter was actually going to be a lot longer but then I was worried it was going to drag so I decided to split up what I wanted to do into two chapters instead. Crash gains another piece missing from his memory in this chapter. **

**Crash is not mine OC's are mine**

Chapter 1 Missing

3 Days Later

Crash couldn't get the faded image out of his mind. The corridor within his mind was so barren, but it seemed so familiar to him. Why was he running away, and what was it he was running away from?

Was there something that he needed to do, but he wanted to avoid? Or was something that may have happened to him; possibly natures of abuse that he felt he needed to get far away from?

Crash tried to play the image again in his mind, but the image remained vague. All he could see was the corridor; he was running away and he was scared. That was it. The bandicoot tugged his hair in frustration.

"What was I running away from?! Was there something that I didn't want to do? Was there something I saw? What the hell happened to me?!" Crash thought, angrily.

Crash was far to lost in thought that he jumped when he felt Elkie gently tap his shoulder.

"Elkie! What are you doing?!" Crash demanded, startled.

"Crash the bell rang, it's time for gym class." She said, calmly.

Crash grinned, nervously.

"Oh! Heh heh... I must zoned out for a second. Sorry about that. Let's go."

The bandicoot walked down the halls with the blind girl. His mind to moving a mile a minute; one part of his mind seemed occupied on what was going on around him as he tried to remain focused. The other part of his mind wanted to keep solving the mystery of his missing memories. Memories that seemed more important than he would've thought.

What exactly happened to him before he woke up in the military hospital; it must have brutal since he almost had died. But what did he almost die from, trauma a freak accident; if it wasn't those things, what exactly was it.

Crash snapped back to reality when he saw he was at the locker room.

"I'm gonna change." Elkie said.

"I'll see you in there." Crash responded.

Walking into the locker room, Crash felt the air around grow rather cold. He first thought it must have been from the heaters giving out, but the other boys in the room seemed rather comfortable.

Crash sighed to himself as he opened his locker and grabbed his athletic clothes.

As he slipped his shirt off, he felt his vision change around him. Crash tried rubbing his eyes to bring his vision back to focus only to see world around him still a blur. He finally felt his vision clear to find himself in some sort of holding cell.

Crash cautiously walked within the dark cell until he saw someone chained to the wall.

The bandicoot adjusted his eyes to see who the person was. Only he was not prepared for the answer; it was him.

The bandicoot against the wall looked exactly like him; only 2 years younger and much more skinny.

Crash felt his eyes widened, this couldn't have been him; this helpless little boy and him could not be the same person.

The boy's emerald eyes were darting all over the place. His stomach was screaming for food, and his heart and mind were screaming for freedom.

"I have to get out of here!" The boy rasped. "I have to get out of here before it's too late; before he makes me his general."

"Before who makes me their general?!" Crash demanded. "General for what?! What the hell is going on?!"

The younger Crash stared out the window. "If only I could fly. Then I would fly away from here. I would then be free, free to be me."

Crash felt tears slide down his face.

"That's right, I can remember a little more; I was a captive. I dreamed of freedom; dreaming what lied beyond the window. But what did I want to escape from."

Crash felt his vision swirl away when he felt something cold hit his fur. His vision again cleared when he found himself lying on the ground, dosed in cold water.

"Crash are you all right?" Coach Tanner asked, kneeling beside him.

"What happened?" Crash asked, quietly.

"The boys found you lying on the ground, you must have fainted.

Crash remembered his vision, it seemed to be coming back a little more, but there was still so much to do.

"How long was I like this?"

"Must have been 45 minutes." The coach said.

"Oh, I didn't realize it was that long."

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"I guess so."

"Why don't you come back to my house for awhile; I'll make you something to eat."

"All right." Crash sighed.

The bandicoot pulled himself off the ground.

Walking out of the locker room he kept wondering; what exactly was happening to him? Were these vision not only part of his memory but also as a warning as to what was going to happen next?

Crash felt himself come back to reality when he saw Jan and Elkie run to him.

"Oh Crash, what happened?! Jan asked, horrified.

"They said you just fell over and thought you were dead!" Elkie cried.

"Guys relax, I'm okay; I must have just hit my head." Crash smiled, gently.

"I'm going to have Crash come to my house for a little while, you girls are welcome to join us."

"Sure, I want to know if Crash is fine." The blind girl, said.

"Yeah, Mom and Dad have having screaming matches more than usual, don't want to be around to hear them." Jan answered, bitterly.

The three young teens followed their teacher to the car and buckled themselves in.

**So Crash has another flashback from his past. Slowly but surely he's uncovering everything. Next chapter is going to explain a lot more and may also answer more questions about what have been vague in the previous story. Until then read and review.**


	3. Faces

**Sorry about the long wait. I had been out of town last week and although I brought my computer I had really bad writers block. But then out of nowhere an idea came. It wasn't what I originally planned but I liked how it flowed. This chapter actually is kind of sad but it does kind of tie in some stuff from previous fics so I guess you have to do what you got to do.**

**With that I don't have much to say except enjoy the chapter**

**Crash is still not mine. OC's are still mine.**

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**Chapter 2 Faces**

Evening had come much sooner than Crash would have wanted it to. For the past several hours, he had sitting on the couch in Coach Tanner's living room. The boy hadn't spoken a word since he had gotten there and he really didn't have any plans to otherwise.

Elkie and Jan had joined him; but eventually they had to go home as they had family members, especially Jan's unstable parents, that would be worried about them. So Crash was alone with his gym teacher. Honestly, Crash enjoyed the silence; it was giving him to time to clear his head.

Crash remained in thought when he thought about the vision. What did he want to avoid; and more importantly, what did he want to escape from?

Crash sighed as he banged his fists against his knees.

Coach Tanner had walked into the living room.

"You all right Crash?" He asked.

"Yeah Coach; I'm just fine."

"Do you want to talk about it?" The older man, asked.

"I'm not really sure..." Crash said, mostly to himself.

"Are you in any sort of trouble?"

"I'm not sure; but judging by these memories, I probably am." Crash sighed.

The bandicoot looked over his shoulder when he noticed a picture of an older boy; but when Crash looked deeper into the photo, he recognized the same boy hanging on the wall in the coach's office.

"Hey Coach Tanner, who's this boy in the photo?" Crash asked.

Coach Tanner lowered his head.

"That's my son, Craig." He said, sadly.

"Where is he?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Why?! What happened to him?!" Crash demanded.

"Kiddo it's a long story..."

"Please... I really want to know... I think I've seen him once before."

Coach Tanner sighed deeply.

"Well as you can see, my son and I look nothing alike; actually we never really had anything in common. We had a pretty strained relationship as it was but it got even worse when my wife died."

"When did she die?" Crash asked.

"About five years ago."

"I'm sorry." Crash said.

"Don't be; it wasn't your fault. Anyway, after she died, Craig became very rebellious; he would disappear for long periods of time that he would be in and out of the house without me even realizing it. It's pretty fair to say that he was blaming me for his mother's death. I know watching his mother dying was hurting him."

"How did she die?"

"Well my wife had sprained her ankle when she was practicing yoga and had gone to get an X-Ray. However they had found something and had to run more tests. When they got the results back, they discovered a rare but fatal illness that could be cured, if found earlier enough; when they discovered it on my wife, she was in the final stages and was beyond treatment, and all we could do was watch. It didn't even take 3 months for her body to completely shut down. Afterwards, Craig refused to say anything to me and did so many things just to spite me, at least I believe it was out of spite. I'm surprised I managed to keep Craig out of jail, then again he was rebellious even when his mother was alive."

"So what happened to him?"

"About 3 or 4 years ago, Craig and I got into a huge fight, I don't even remember what the fight was about, something stupid I'm sure. But Craig had stormed out. I didn't go after him and I regret that; if I had gone after him, then none of this would have happened. But I blew it off letting him go; letting go to cool himself down." The older man felt tears stream down his face. Crash felt himself crying too.

"So what was the result?" Although the bandicoot he had a feeling he already knew.

"About 3 hours later, I got a phone call from the please saying that Craig had been hit by bus and was taken to the emergency room. I got there is fast as I could and I only was able to see him through the window, there was so much blood; the doctors were even amazed that he wasn't dead yet. They gave him very little hope; even if he had survived, he would have had severe spinal trauma and would have been paralyzed from the neck down. But that wasn't the worst of this story, no it was even worse than having to watch my own child die! I was going to stay at that hospital until my son was gone! I was not going to abandon him! But then what happens?! In the middle of the night a doctor comes to you and tells you your son is missing, hospital bed and all! Some sick bastard took my son and I couldn't do a thing to stop it! I don't even know if Craig's alive or dead! But is it wrong to think that he is dead so he doesn't have to suffer anymore?! Am I a horrible father for feeling this way?!" Coach Tanner sobbed.

"No... You aren't a bad father; you loved your son very much, and you would've done anything for him. I'm sure Craig knows that and I know he loved you too." Crash said, trying to smile, however a another cold feeling seemed to spread around him.

Coach Tanner got up from the coach. "Crash would you be angry if I asked you to leave? I want to be alone."

Crash wasn't angry at all. "No Coach not all, I might have overstayed my welcome anyway."

"Of course not Crash; you're always welcome in my home. You're a kind boy Crash; there are not many people like you out there."

Crash walked toward the door.

"Good night, Coach." He said.

"Good night, Crash."

Crash walked into the darkened streets; he relayed everything that Coach Tanner had told him about his son. He then remembered when he first saw Craig's picture in the office and he had recalled that the older boy seemed really familiar.

That's when he another flashback come to his mind; he was floating in some sort of electric tunnel; strapped to a jet pack. From the shadows, Craig had appeared; only his lower face was hidden by a mask and instead of sharp blue eyes like in the photos, they were in impure blood red.

"What do you want?!" Crash had demanded.

"I have promised that I would make sure you would not go any farther." The boy said in a deep but soft spoken voice, much different from his father's rough voice and thick Brooklyn accent.

"But I have to get past or the world will be destroyed!" Crash demanded.

Craig held something in his hand.

"If went to move on, you'll to get past me!" He charged towards him as the vision faded away.

"Craig was trying to hurt me; he promised he wouldn't let me go any farther. Who did he promise that to and why? His father said he received spinal trauma from the accident and was going to die. So how was he up and around as if nothing ever happened?" Crash shook his head roughly when he thought he heard a sound behind him.

"Whose there?!" Crash demanded.

Nothing but silent darkness surrounded him. However Crash was not satisfied; he knew someone was following him, they just weren't dumb enough to expose themselves.

"I know you're following me, whoever you are, but I know you won't attack me; it's too crowded and you know you'll get caught, you're nothing but a coward." Crash stated, boldly.

Again whoever was stalking him, didn't answer.

"I'm going to go now; I know you aren't going to show yourself, not yet at least. But when you do, I'll be ready." Crash walked towards the subway to go back downtown. In the shadows, a tall pale figure was standing on the roof of the building, his face covered by a mask and his blood red eyes seemed to glow in the night.

"So Crash, this is where you've been hiding. It doesn't matter now that I know where you are; all that matters is Dr. Cortex will be pleased by this update. I have to return to tell him the news."

The figure laughed as he jumped from the roof as he landed gracefully on the ground taking off into the darkness.

**OMG Crash has regained another piece of the missing puzzle in his memory. It seems like in each chapter he gains a little something back and I like that sequence in a way. Also it's more than obvious that the figure was Craig let's not try to mystify it and that he knows where Crash is. So some serious shit is coming soon. Until then Read Review or PM DUECES!**


	4. Haunting

**I was listening to Freaky Fred's theme from Courage the Cowardly Dog when the idea for this chapter popped into my head. Not much happens but I thought this chapter was a little morbid. That's all I got to say.**

**Crash is not mine. Jan is mine**

Chapter 3 Haunting

Crash laid in his bed as stared outside the window. The early morning light had come bringing nothing but clouds an heaven rain.

Crash really didn't mind the cold very much, but he would have preferred to have the brightness of the sunshine as opposed the dark grey clouds that seemed to loom over him like a shadow.

Then again, grumbling over the weather wasn't going to anything to change it; the weather had called for rain the entire day, maybe even a few strong thunderstorms. Pretty soon it would be snowing; although Crash was looking forward to snow; it seemed much prettier than the rain.

The boy turned toward the alarm clock to see it read seven thirty. Crash could easily have gone back to bed since it was Saturday and he didn't have to get up to go to school, but he found himself wide awake.

"Maybe an early morning walk wouldn't be such a bad thing." Crash thought to himself, pulling the nice warm blankets off of him.

He walked to the dresser and pulled out some jeans and a thick sweatshirt. After he got his shoes on, he walked out the door. He looked towards Jan's apartment deciding whether or not he wanted her to join. He was about to approach the door when he decided against it. He really wanted to be by himself for awhile. Plus things between him and Jan had been weird ever since they had gotten back from the Hamptons.

Crash hurried down the stairs; his mind seemed surprisingly empty. Everything seemed empty ever since Jan had told him the morbid message: something was coming that even he wouldn't be able to stop.

What was coming? Had he seen it once before? Did he fight something of a great power once before? Then what about the image of him being bound to a wall with chains when he was a child? He heard himself talking about freedom; he wanted to get away from someone, but who did he want to get away from? But if that wasn't enough, then what about Coach Tanner's lost son, Craig? The Coach had said that his son had been hit by a bus and was a lost cause, only for him to disappear; hospital bed and all. So why in his flashback's was this Craig moving and talking as if nothing happened? But there was the most frightening flashback of all, Crash was running; running down that long dark corridor, alone and afraid.

Crash breathed deeply; all of these flashbacks came at different times, but they all had to be connected. They all had to have one link; he was a prisoner, he had apparently escaped, and this Craig have to been a servant or slave to however this person that was holding him prisoner.

He then remembered what Dr. Nitrus Brio had said; he had an old partner back awhile ago, and they created him. So who was this old partner? Was he responsible for this?

Suddenly he found himself flying through a dark tubed tunnel. Crash's expression was twisted into one of pure rage. He appeared to be chasing someone, but he could barely make out the form. Although it had the shape of a man.

"YOU SICK BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Crash could hear the image of himself scream in rage, causing the boy to cringe at the sight.

Only the figure did not seem to stop and continued to fly away.

"YOU LIED TO ME! COME BACK AND FIGHT YOU COWARD!"

Crash was starting to pick up some more speed and was getting closer and closer to the man. But just as he was about to see the man's face, the image died away.

Crash stood on the street in shock.

"Someone tricked me; someone made do something I shouldn't have done, and I wanted vengeance. Could it have been the man that was Brio's old partner and the one who held me prisoner?" Crash ran his hand through his hair.

The bandicoot lowered his head as he tried to clear his head. When he raised his head again, he saw himself at a playground, only it was completely empty.

Crash past the gate and looked around; the place seemed almost like a graveyard, the swings and the seesaw's moved morbidly against the wind giving the grounds a haunting present.

But amongst the haunting atmosphere, Crash found himself at ease; any tension he may have felt seemed to fade away with the morbid setting.

"Man this would a great place to throw a Halloween party." Crash chuckled to himself.

He turned toward the swings; he hadn't swung on them since the weather had started to turn crappy.

The boy walked to the wet swing and sat upon it. Crash kicked his legs and began to push himself and he began to swing higher and higher. The rush brought a silver lining to his mind and he felt almost at piece with himself. Any stressed feelings he had the last several days seemed to fade; and he did not want the feeling to end.

Crash pushed himself higher and higher until he heard a voice behind him.

"Crash?"

He turned to see it was Jan.

"Did you follow me?" He asked.

"You seemed out of place and were just wandering; I was worried so, yeah I followed you." She admitted.

She sat and the swing next to him and gently began to push herself.

"Why are you out here? It's only 35 degrees." She asked.

"I needed to clear my head."

Jan looked at the ground.

"Crash why don't we go get some breakfast? It's too cold to be outside."

"Jan, where did you say you first found me?" Crash asked.

"I found you on the shores of beach about two years ago. Why?"

Crash found another image swirling within him. He saw himself lying on the shoreline of a beach faced down. A slightly younger Jan was running toward him.

"Hey are you okay?!" Jan asked, gently shaking him.

Crash's eyes slightly opened and he saw himself looking into Jan's emerald eyes.

"Where am I?" Crash asked, groggy.

"You're on a beach; I think you washed up on the shore."

"I'm Crash Bandicoot." He said.

"I'm Jan." She answered.

Crash suddenly sat up.

"OH MY GOD! TAWNA THE OTHERS! I HAVE TO GET BACK TO THE CASTLE!" Crash started running when he felt himself falling forward, Jan luckily managed to grab him.

"What are you doing?!" She asked, angrily. "You're very weak."

"I don't care; I have to get back to the castle, before he hurts anyone else!" He growled.

"Then I'm coming with you." Jan said.

"No!"

"You don't have a choice, you need someone to come with you, you'll die out there alone. My parents squadron have been on the islands for months, and they haven't been able to do anything. So what makes you think you can?"

"Then I'll die knowing I tried."

"I'm still coming." Jan growled.

"Just don't fall behind." Crash sighed as he ran off into the jungle."

The image faded away.

"Jan... You, you saved me." Crash said, stopping his swing.

"Crash..." Jan asked.

"If it wasn't for you, I would've drowned. I'm alive because of you and I tried to brush you off and you still followed. Why?"

"I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"And we became friends, the best of friends." Crash said, in a rather childlike tone. The tone almost scared Jan.

"Crash, are you all right?"

Crash snapped out of it.

"Oh! Yeah I'm okay; I remember, I remember you finding me. And we went on our adventure like the misfits that we were." Crash said with his now goofy grin.

"I remember; we were a couple of misfits, weren't we?" Jan said smiling.

"We sure were." Crash replied.

Jan got up from the swing.

"Crash let's go inside; it's getting cold."

Crash got up himself.

"Yeah, I'm getting hungry."

Arms linked, the two friends walked away from the morbid playground, never even aware of the little camera that had been watching them the entire time.

**I thought Crash behaved in a rather creepy manner throughout the chapter and I kind of enjoyed that. I think it gives him more character instead of being goofy all the time. I kind of felt bad for Crash in a way because the more of his memory he regains, the more unstable he seems to be becoming. Then again everything he went through could you blame him? Well the next chapter or the one after that is where Crash will regain all his memories. Until that time comes stop by my Profile Page, I have a poll going on and would appreciate it if you voted.**

**Until next time Read and review**


	5. It has Come

**Long time no update. Well this update will fix that. Crash gets his memory back.**

**With that enjoy**

**Crash is not mine. OC's are mine**

Chapter 4 It has Come

Crash had been sitting inside of the diner for the last 3 and half hours. He didn't exactly know why he remained glued to his chair; maybe it was because he was completely entranced with staring out the window and watching the rain pouring in gushes from the sky. Or it was just simply he wanted to keep his mind free from anymore flashbacks.

This morning alone had provided many more flashbacks than the rest of the week combined; and by judging what he had witnessed in those flashbacks, his past did not seem like a very happy one.

He had been imprisoned, running down a corridor with having no idea where to go, washed up on a shore and more than likely would have drowned if it wasn't for Jan. Somewhere else down the road he had been manipulated and was filled with nothing but pure rage and when he woke up at that military, all of his memories were gone. So what the hell was going on?

Crash raised his head from the window when he noticed Jan staring at him with a rather enraged look on her face.

"Hi! Did you forget that I was still here?!" She glared.

"You didn't have to stay this entire time, you know." Crash shot back in a rather mean tone.

"Well after you finished eating, you just focused your attention on the window. I didn't want to leave you alone; people would think you were crazy."

"Thanks Jan! That really makes me feel better!" Crash growled.

"What's the matter?" Jan asked.

"What's the matter...? WHAT'S THE MATTER?! I HAVE BEEN ANALYZING MY PAST FOR THE LAST WEEK AND HAVE REMEMBERED NOTHING BUT PAIN AND SUFFERING! AND YOU ASK WHAT'S THE MATTER?! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN JAN?!" Crash felt tears forming in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. It also did not help that everyone in the diner was staring at him. Jan looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"I'm sorry! I'm very sorry!" Crash replied humiliated, before running out of the restaurant.

He looked to see if Jan was going to him; but to his surprise, she didn't.

"Fine don't follow me; I would rather be by myself anyway."

The bandicoot walked through the rainy streets; his mind felt so thick and everything around him seemed to fade away as everything that once happened to him was coming back to haunt.

He wanted slap himself across the face for wanting to accept these memories back into his life; now they were haunting him so much that he could barely sleep or eat. He wished had stayed in his naïve little bubble; he would have been so much happier in the long run.

Crash had snapped out of his thoughts once again when he saw on one of the buildings walls numerous flyers and a giant crowd flocking around it.

He was tempted to walk away, but he felt his legs lead him straight to the wall. When he got closer, the people were murmuring amongst themselves, while others were weeping and crying.

"Excuse me, what's going on over here?" Crash asked a man who was passing out flyers.

"We've been putting up flyers in all major cities around the world." He said.

"Why?"

"They are list of children and young adults who have gone missing."

"That's terrible! Who would do something like that?!" Crash demanded, although he had a feeling he already knew.

"That's the problem, we don't know. These youths started disappearing around 5 years ago; and so far none have been found, and we're not even sure we know where to start looking. We're hoping these flyers may finally give us lead."

"How many youths have gone missing?"

"We've estimated around close to 5 or 6 thousand."

Crash felt something flow through him.

"You mind if I look through those flyers?" He asked.

"Sure knock yourself out. If you know anything, it will be more than helpful." The man smiled sadly before walking away.

Crash walked over to the wall and he saw all of the pictures; the youths had been from the United States to Japan, and they all had been taken from their homes with no explanation why.

But even then Crash knew one thing; he found himself able to identify them.

Crash saw a picture of a girl with raven black hair, and curved features.

"The girl; her name was...Ramona."

He then saw a small framed girl that's hair was so blonde it was almost white. Crash remembered her name was Valerie.

He scanned the pictures; the more he saw the more he remembered when suddenly, everything suddenly came together.

"I have to get back to Cortex's castle; if I don't, he'll hurt Tawna and everyone else." He heard his voice cry.

"Cortex, I AM going to stop you!"

"But I'm better off without you!"

"Cortex is still alive, and he wants me to gather crystals."

"Brio was the one pulling the entire time?!"

"You lied to me; and you used me!"

"So this what will happen if Cortex wins; he'll take control of the planet creating a dark and desolate future."

"I WON'T LET YOU HURT JAN; SHE'S INNOCENT IN ALL THIS! I'M THE ONE YOU FUCKING WANT!"

"Jan...I'm sorry... I'm not better off without you..."

Crash caved to his knees; he remembered now, he remembered everything.

"No, no it's not possible; this couldn't be my life; Coco, Aku Aku, Polar, Pura, Sean, Holly, Milo, Linda and Kage, they're all probably in agony. They must think I'm dead. But this is my life; I can now remember everything as clear as day. It can't be real; I couldn't have been created by that monster, but that's just it, I was. Ever since I betrayed him, he's been trying to kill me. He won't stop until I'm dead! I won't let that happen, I'll run away; I'll run faraway where no one can find me!

Crash started running down the sidewalk; not caring at all where he would go; all he wanted was to run for as long as he could. He wanted to run from his life, a life that had slowly dragged him into pain misery, a life where he was trapped inbetween worlds, a life where he could no longer remain naïve. However, his vision began to swirl; it was like he was being dragged into a nightmare that there was no escape. His dazed running had unfortunately caused him to knock down an old woman.

The woman cried out breaking Crash out if his trance.

"I'm so sorry, Ma'am. Let me help you." Crash said, helping up the poor lady.

"That's quite all right... Are you all right? You're dripping in sweat." She asked.

"Yeah! I'm okay...! I gotta go!" Crash bolted, leaving the woman standing in confusion.

"Won't stop running... Won't stop..." Suddenly Crash completely stopped in his tracks; he couldn't run anymore, there was no place left run. Where would he go? No matter where he went, Cortex was going to find him; he always did.

Crash cringed when he thought he could hear his arch nemesis's syrupy voice in his head.

"Remember Crash: nobody can run from their fate."

Crash lowered his head; he didn't want to admit it, but Cortex was right, he couldn't run away.

A couple hours later, Crash was sitting on the subway. He didn't care where it would take him, but just wanted to sit and clear his mind. Only that wasn't going the way he planned.

All he could think about was Cortex and all of the pain he caused him. It wasn't fair; why did Cortex want to do this to him? Was it just because Crash refused to bow to him; he still did regret this course of action, and he never would.

Cortex trying to kill him however was not what angered him the most; what angered him the most was the fact Cortex had claimed he changed his ways and needed Crash to help him save the world; only to discover the hard way that Cortex was controlling Crash like a puppet the entire time and had abducted Jan as blackmail. Crash would never forgive his nemesis, no matter how long he begged.

Crash would never forgive himself for their last encounter; when Crash let his rage take over and had destroyed the time twister machine the wrong way, and allowing Cortex to escape. Thanks to that lose of control, Crash had almost died, and had to start back at the beginning. Now that he was back on track, he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue.

He then felt the subway come to a complete stop.

"This is the end of the line; you'll have to get off." Said the conductor.

Crash pulled himself up and walked out. He stood on the docking part looked to see if another subway would come, but then he found himself staring at the stairs leading him back into the city.

He had a decision to make: he could either wait for the train and continue riding in a endless pattern, naïve and willing to ignore reality. Or he could go back to the city and face his life.

The next subway was coming into the dock and opened the door.

"You getting on?" The conductor asked.

Crash looked into the subway and was very tempted to get on, but decided...

"You know, I'm actually good." He said, walking toward the stairs.

Crash knew right there that no matter what he wanted to happened, he would have to face reality, and not run away it. No matter how bad it may be.

**Well Crash is back on track, he's not happy about it, but he's back on track. This fic is almost over but the last chapters are going to bring everything together for the next installment. Until then, read and Review. DUECES!**


	6. Amends

**Well this chapter has a lot of things going on. But this chapter is going to start leading into the next story. I really liked how this chapter turned out and I hope you all do to.**

**And before anybody starts questions, I changed the one mask into a female in the wrath of cortex I originally that it was a female, so I guess it just stuck with me. **

**Apart from that I've got nothing else to say except but enjoy the chapter, I think you all will**

**Crash and related characters are not mine. OC's are mine.**

Chapter 5 Amends

Later that evening, Crash had returned to his apartment. The uneasy feeling still had not left him; although he did feel a little better, just a little.

Crash was proud that he decided to accept things as they were; running away was not going to change anything, it would only make them much worse. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but he would face it head on with a brave smile on his face, no matter how scared he would be on the inside.

Crash continued to stare out the window, watching as the cold evening rain fell from the sky. Sometimes he had to wonder if the rain had a symbolic meaning behind it. Almost as if the rain was washing away the cold cruelties of the world, leaving something new and clean. Maybe this is what may have lied within him; the rain could be washing away his pain and suffering, leaving a clean slate to grab and accept the world that was around him, but then again who knew.

The bandicoot was taken out of his thoughts when he heard banging on his door.

"Crash! Please let me in!" Came a familiar accented voice.

"Kage!" Crash ran and opened the door to see Kage sitting in her wheelchair, tears were streaming down her face.

"Oh Crash! I was starting to give up hope, but here you are, alive and well!" She sobbed.

Crash smiled through his tears. "Of course I'm okay. You didn't doubt me, did you?"

Kage smiled. "No! I did what you said; I left fate up to chance."

Crash grinned, goofily. "That's the Kage I know; a warrior."

The red head laughed.

Jan walked down the hall.

"I remembered you mentioned that you claimed that met Kage somewhere before; so I sent her a text message, and she insisted that she come and see you straight away." Jan said quietly.

"It was a miracle that this news was to come; I thought I would bump into by chance, but here we are." Kage said, still in shock that Crash was back into her life.

Jan chuckled. "I was just as surprised as you were when Crash had come home with my parents, I thought it was all a dream."

Crash chuckled, although his was much more bitter.

"Crash..." Kage asked. "What's..."

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?!" He demanded.

"Crash did you get your memories back?" Jan asked.

Crash lowered his head.

"Yeah, I did."

"So how was it?"

"It wasn't the experience I thought it would be; I'm kinda wishing I remained in my naïve little bubble."

"What could have happened that had been so bad?" Jan asked.

Kage looked incredulous.

"Jan... Are you serious; don't you remember what happened about a year ago?"

"No... I haven't seen Crash in two years."

"Jan you came into Brio's lab in hysteria claiming that all of us were conspiring against Crash; and that we couldn't be trusted." Kage explained.

"That's ridiculous! I have no recollection of that at all. I was told last year that I had hit me head at an event and wondered off before passing out."

"Jan! N. Gin bashed you in the head and took you to Cortex; he held a gun to your head and used you against me as blackmail!" Crash said, stunned.

"Crash, Cortex died two years ago."

"That's not true; Cortex survived that encounter at his castle; and he survived his space station being destroyed; and he escaped when the time twister was demolished, although that kinda was my fault." Crash sighed.

"That's not possible Crash, I was there; I saw him fall!" Jan stated, her eyes frightened.

"Janny I wish that I was lying, I really do; but Cortex is out there, and I know he's hunting for me even as we speak." Crash turned to Kage. "Kage did you see Coco or Aku Aku at all?"

Kage lowered her head.

"I actually talked to Milo a couple weeks ago. He said that there has been sign of them anywhere; he and Linda even went back to the islands, they saw nothing."

Crash lowered his head; his sister and father figure were nowhere to be find, and the possibility was strong that they were dead by now.

"Crash this can't be happening, this can't be real; there has to..." Jan was stopped on her tracks when Crash wrapped his arms around her.

"Jan, I'm sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances. You are my best in the whole wide world, and I don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to you..."

"CRASH! I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU PUSH ME AWAY AGAIN! NOT WHEN I WAS SO AFRAID I WAS GOING TO LOSE YOU FOR GOOD!" She screamed, her heart breaking.

"Jan let us explain..." Kage tried to say.

"No! You guys are all buddies, and I don't fit anywhere in the equation, forget it; I don't want to hear anymore of your excuses!" Jan stormed out of the apartment in tears.

Kage looked at the bandicoot in shock.

"I only want to keep her safe; Cortex is more than willing to use her to get me." Crash sighed. "I wish she would understand that."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Kage asked. "I'm her cousin, I think she'll listen to me, hopefully."

"Do what you can." Crash stated, quietly. "I'm going to go for a walk." He walked out the door.

Kage wheeled herself back to Jan's apartment; hoping that she could talk some sense into her cousin's head. The girl sighed as she opened the door and could see her aunt and grandmother looking at her as she wheeled herself inside.

"Grandma, Aunt Emmy..."

"Why was Jan in tears!?" Dr. Starling demanded, obviously drunk. "That thing did something to her didn't he?!"

"Emmy!" The older woman demanded.

"Is she in her room? I need to talk to her." Kage asked.

"Yes she is." Kage's grandmother replied.

Kage wheeled herself to Jan's door before opening it.

"Jan..." Kage started, gently.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Jan demanded, her face soaking wet.

"Jan, Crash didn't want to abandon you; he knew you had to leave. It broke his heart to watch you go."

"He's made no attempt to contact me; but he had his posse with him that he doesn't mind to have around!" Jan snarled.

"Jan will you please just listen to what I have to say?!" Kage demanded.

"What is there left to say?!" Jan shot back.

"Lots Jan, lots!" The wheelchair bound girl stated. "Look the only reason Crash has stayed away from you was because he wanted to protect you; do you even realize that Cortex is more than willing to use you to hurt Crash?!"

"That's not possible; Cortex is...!"

"That's what you thought Jan, but that's not the case; Cortex is alive and well, and will do everything in his power to take Crash out of the equation. If anything were to happen to you, Crash would have a nervous breakdown. That's something Cortex wants; he wants Crash to experience both physical and emotional pain. Do you understand that?"

Jan remembered Cortex had said those exact words back on the islands; he had said that he was more than willing to use her as a pawn against Crash. She represented his sanity.

"You're right; Cortex told me that... How could have been so stupid?!" Jan snarled.

"Crash didn't want anything to happen to you, it wasn't you personally." Kage said, soothingly.

"But it hurt." Jan sobbed.

"He didn't know what else to do; you were all he ever talked about. He never stopped thinking of you, not even once."

Jan looked out the window. So that was it the entire time; he only wanted to keep her safe? She was about ask more when the lights began to flicker off.

"What's going on?" Jan demanded, looking at the now lightless lamp.

"I don't know; maybe a power outage." Kage said, although she had a feeling it was something much worse.

"But there was no call for any major storms. So what could possibly..."

Suddenly there was an enormous quaking; shaking the entire building in a violent matter. The two girls held onto something sturdy for dear life, as they waited for the shaking to be over. After about a minute and a half, the shaking had stopped, but Jan's room was a mess.

"What was that!" Jan demanded.

"I don't know; I've felt an earthquake like that before!" Kage replied, just as shocked.

Dr. Starling and her mother ran into the room.

"Are you girls all right?!" The old woman, asked.

"We're fine, Grandma." Kage answered.

"Darling, you look so pale." Dr. Starling said, looking at her trembling daughter.

"I'm fine mom, it was just an earthquake." Jan walked to her window and looked outside but saw a horrifying sight. The streets had been torn up and several buildings were burning ravenously. The sky was filled with horrifying lightning and waves in the ocean were dangerously high. Something was wrong.

"This isn't normal; there has to be more to the story." Jan grabbed her coat and ran out the door.

"JAN GET BACK HERE!" Her mother screamed.

But Jan ignored her and ran down the steps and out the door.

When she was outside, she numerous cars had been totaled, the power had completely shut down, and everyone was standing around in shock and horror. The entire city had been brought to a stand still.

"Hey what's going on?!" Jan asked a man who was walking by.

"I don't know but there's no power, so nobody know if this just happened here or anywhere else." The man then kept walking without saying another word.

"I have to find Crash! He might know what this is about!"

Jan ran as fast as could to find her friend, but that was proving to be difficult with the destroyed roads and icy cold temperature. Sirens were blaring everywhere responding to emergency calls and fires. Jan tried to ask someone for help but everyone seemed to preoccupied with the something else to help her.

Jan found herself in time square, only it was completely empty and desolate Jan was alone.

"This is so unreal; it's like I'm walking through a nightmare."

She then heard a rumbling sound behind her.

"Whose there?!" She demanded, turning around.

The ground to shake and slightly split apart, the movement had come so fast that red had not seen it coming when she was knocked off her feet and landed face first on one of the large debris.

With a bloody nose, Jan lifted herself to find herself staring into the face of what looked like a rocky mask.

"What are you staring at little punk?! You never see a mask before?" He smirked.

"I...uh..." Jan couldn't find her voice.

"Maybe I should just burn your face off..." He said, sadistically. The mask prepared to charge up a beam.

"NO!" Jan screamed, running away.

She ran a rather far distance before hiding herself behind a totaled car. She stayed still, hoping the mask hadn't followed her. She turned by behind her to a raindrop looking mask; glaring at her with great intensity.

"YOU CALL THAT RUNNING!? YOU COULDN'T RUN ACROSS ASIA WITH LEGS LIKE THOSE! I SHOULD WHIP THE HELL OUT OF YOU!" The mask screamed in the manner of a drill sergent.

"What the!?" Jan asked, her mouth wide open.

"DON'T SASS ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU! I'LL PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE!" The mask sent water gushing towards, but Jan managed to avoid it and ran away.

Where were these masks coming from; and why were they following her? Jan had more questions on her mind when the wind violently picked up and knocking her off her feet. Jan cried out in surprise when she looked up to see a cloudlike mask grinning insanely at her.

"I know the saying that people have two left feet, but this is ridiculous!" The mask laughed, her cheeks puffing out in an almost demonic way.

Jan stared at the mask's deranged smile, wondering what was going on.

"What's the matter, sweetie? Cat got you tongue?" The mask asked in a rather sickeningly sweet voice.

Jan started crawling away; wanting to get faraway from these masks as possible.

But when she got her feet and tried to run, a stream of fire rose from the ground. Jan screamed, turning around to herself staring into the eyes of mask made entirely of flames.

"Where are you running off to, little girl? The fun has only just begun!" The fire mask laughed, manically. The other three mask began to circle her.

"What do you guys want with me!?" Jan demanded. frightened.

"We only want have some fun!" The cloud mask giggled.

"But you're being such a buzz kill." The rock mask, said.

"DON'T YOU HAVE ANY MANNERS, WHEN SOMEONE WANTS TO HAVE FUN?!" The water mask screamed.

"I don't think she understands our concept of having fun!" The cloud mask said with slight disdain in her voice.

"Let's put a smile on that face!" The fire mask grinned, insanely.

"You will do none of the sort!" A dark voice came from behind.

Jan turned to see a black wooden mask floating in the air; and although she had never seen him before, his voice was enough to get him away.

"It's you; the voice in my head from the islands." Her mouth wide open.

"Hello Jane." The floating mask said.

"..."

"It's so nice to meet you face to face after all this time; I can see why Crash is so interested in you." The mask laughed.

Jan didn't know whether to be flattered or disgusted.

"Why are you here?!" Jan asked.

The floating mask charged up a dark energy beam, before firing it at her.

"WHERE IS CRASH BANDICOOT!?" He cried.

Jan shut her eyes waiting for the impact, when she felt someone pull her away.

"I'm right here!" Crash's voice could be heard. Jan opened her eyes to see that Crash had pulled her away from the mask's beam.

The two stared at each other for a rather long time.

"Crash Bandicoot." The mask said, intently.

"Uka Uka..." Crash answered, bravely but rather uneasy.

**Sorry for the cliffhanger ending but I want to save it for the next chapter. And after that chapter, Memories will be completed and then we will be on the next installment. Until then Read Review or PM. Don't forget I still have my poll going on, so head over to my profile and check that out. DUECES!**


	7. And so it Begins

**All right everyone here is the final chapter of Memories. The road is over and now I can start the one I really wanted to. But before we end this installment, I would like to do my shout outs.**

**As always I would like to thank jojoker boy and jpbake for providing me with tips ideas and encouragement along the way. THANKIES!**

**I would always like to thank Fanboy111 and CrashBandicootAlways2002 for reviewing this fic. You two are amazing.**

**And Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone who read this installment. Even if you didn't review, showing that you read does matter.**

**So with out farther let's end this.**

**Crash and company is not mine, OC's are mine (I still don't like this)**

Chapter 6 And so it Begins

Crash continued to stare intently at Uka Uka and the 4 ominous mask floating just behind him. All of his nightmares were now just in front of him, and he could not runaway, even if he wanted to.

"Uka Uka! What are these masks that accompany you?!" Crash demanded, glaring hard.

The demonic mask smiled devilishly.

"These mask that you see before you, are known as the Elementals."

"The Elementals! What are they!?" Jan demanded, from her place behind Crash.

"We Elementals are just what you would think we are; we represent the 4 natural elements: Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire." The fire mask explained. "We each can manipulate our own element as we see fit."

"So that's the reason for the waves heights, and the fires and the earthquake and high winds?" Jan asked.

"Correct that you are." The cloud mask replied, grinning.

"So what does this have to do with Uka Uka? Crash asked.

"Do you know anything of the analogy of the elements, bandicoot?" Uka Uka asked.

"Not really." Crash admitted.

"The elements are very powerful, but there is also one more element; the most powerful of them all."

Jan gasped. "The Ether Element!"

"Ether what...?" Crash asked.

"Ether means spirit; the spirit element connects all of the natural elements as one." Jan explained.

"So that means..." Crash started.

"The demon mask represents the Ether, which means we're totally screwed." Jan explained, smiling nervously.

Crash glared.

"Well that's not going to happen while I'm still standing! By the way, where's Dr. Cortex?!"

"Don't worry about him; he said the two of you will be meeting very soon." Uka Uka stated.

"But what I don't understand is what these Elementals have to do with Cortex. Why would he went to harness the powers of the Elementals?" Crash asked.

"Dr. Cortex claimed that he has been working on some sort of weapon, but he needed a power source to finalize it."

"So with the power of this weapon, and the power of the Elementals, that means...SHIT!" Crash cried, realizing what was lying ahead was not very pleasant.

"HUMANITY WILL TREMBLE AT OUR FEET! SOON A CLOUD OF DARKNESS SHALL COVER THE EARTH!" Uka Uka thundered with laughter.

"CRASH!" A voice came from behind. Crash turned to see Elkie running to him; Jamual, Curtis, and Kage were not far behind.

"UKA UKA! You know that won't happen; I won't let you or the Elementals help bring that monster's reign of terror!"

Crash ran directly towards the masks; only to have them charge up their power and fire at the boy.

The bandicoot just managed to move out of the way; although Crash could feel the tremendous amount of power that radiated from the blast.

"That power, it's so strong. Uka Uka was powerful enough on his own, but with Elementals, he's almost invincible; and judging by what he said by Cortex creating a new weapon, things don't look good." Crash thought to himself.

"Oh yes Crash, there will be blood." The fire mask laughed.

"You aren't going to get away with this!" Curtis cried out.

Uka Uka laughed. "WHOSE GOING TO STOP US!"

"I will! I will stop you like I always have!" Crash cried.

"If you have a death wish, then hit us with your best shot. But until that time comes, I suggest you stay alert for what's coming next."

With that, Uka Uka and the Elementals disappeared in a thick cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared, the weather began to calm slightly.

"Are they gone?" Jamual asked.

"Yeah they're gone." Kage responded.

"The storm has calmed slightly." Elkie stated.

"But for how long?" Kage snapped.

Crash continued staring into the horizon.

"Crash what are you going to do?" Curtis asked.

Crash snapped out of it and turned to the group with a goofy grin on his face.

"I have to test fate once again." He said.

"What do you mean, test fate?" Jamual asked.

"If I don't go after them head on, then Cortex is going to use the Elementals to bring the planet to a standstill. There's a chance they can be defeated but I have to go after them."

"Why does it have be you?" Curtis asked.

"I guess that's the way it has to be." Crash sighed.

"But you could get killed." Jamual protested.

"Then I'll die knowing I tried, but you guys have to trust me and let me do this."

"I trust you Crash! I've always trusted you!" Kage replied, boldly.

"I trust you Crash!" Elkie smiled, giving him a thumbs up.

"I trust you too, Crash!" Curtis smiled.

"I will trust you too, Crash." Jamual chimed in.

Crash turned to Jan; tears were streaming down her face, making it clear she didn't want him to go.

"You guys get yourself to a shelter, I have to start on my own path." Crash explained.

The group turned to leave.

"Crash!" Elkie called.

"Yeah?!" He asked.

"Don't forget to keep your eyes ahead; looking behind will only weaken you, remember that." She answered.

"I won't!"

The group left with Jan reluctantly following behind.

Crash looked into the distance once more.

"Well Crash old buddy, it's time test fate once again."

The bandicoot began to run down the street; a firm glare was set into his eyes, he was ready."

"HERE I COME CORTEX!" He roared, as he continued to run.

Meanwhile in a darkly lit room, a pair of dark red eyes was watching the bandicoot with a hungering interest. As the bandicoot continued to run, the eyes seemed to gleam ominously as a deep voice spoke lowly to no one.

"You will learn Crash."

**The End! Thank you for reading. Stay**** tuned for the next installment: Crash Bandicoot 4: Elements**


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